One of the things we want to try with the garden is making some links between the real space and the website via links embedded in the final 'signage' and plant labels. The idea is to try and collect recent history and record how the the garden (literally) grows rather than just focussing on its medieval past. While I was away on holiday Dasha (from Baker's Row) sent me this first story ...
... As you may know we have a garden full of oversized plants. I have been dreaming of offloading them to Abbey Gardens for some time. I know we that are not meant to dig and that there are future design plans. But I thought it would be OK to move just one plant in a pot. It was the Buddleia. Coincidentally there used to be a lot of these on site in the wilderness days and I thought it might be symbolic to bring one back.
Poor plant did not like the move from our shady garden to the sunny patch across the road very much. It's leaves withered but I thought if I keep it watered it would survive and come back in full bloom next year.
However ... the contractors that came to cut the grass on Monday must have thought that somebody just dumped the old, dead plant there. So they tipped it out and took my ceramic pot away!
Nevermind the pot... I decided I had to rescue the plant. So I pruned it quite a lot and planted in fresh soil back in our garden. I hope it will come back. It is a symbolic plant that Tom got from his great grandparents when he was born. They did not know that
Buddleia is a weed of East London.
20.8.2008
With this in your shoes you can apparently go for miles
The Urban Seed Day went really well, and a big thanks goes out to Roy Vickery for his excellent contribution. The idea was to gather or sow some seeds for next year's Harvest Garden and to talk more about our long term proposals for the garden. Botanist Roy (of South London Botanical Institute) joined us for the afternoon and led a great walk around the garden looking at wildflowers that have been imported, blown onto or deliberately planted on the site. Besides just identifying an amazing range of plants from Mugwort & Corn Cockle to tomatoes & Physalis (!) Roy was also able to reveal some fascinating folklore about the different plants. Karen then gave a master-class on seed propagation, with some hands on volunteers sewing seeds of plants to be used next year.
We had a good time at the St Mary's allotments open day on Saturday and we hope met some potential new recruits for the Harvest Garden. When you see what they can do with squash you know why we want to sign them up!
More images over on Flickr
Photo: Nina Pope
Come & join us on Saturday August 16th for an URBAN SEED DAY at Abbey Gardens ...
We will be gathering and sowing some seeds for next year's Harvest Garden and talking more about our long term proposals for the site. Joining us for the afternoon will be botanist ROY VICKERY (of South London Botanical Institute) for an informal afternoon of WILD FLOWER SPOTTING, FOLKLORE, SEED GATHERING & SEED SOWING.
We will be at the garden, which is opposite Baker's Row in East London (Near West Ham or Stratford tube) from 3pm-5.30pm. The event is free but booking is advised via our contact page.
The event is supported by Newham Council & Friends of Abbey Gardens, we will also have some exciting seeds from the wonderful Chiltern Seeds to give away. If you have seeds gathered from your own gardens do bring some along to swap - Louise has already given me loads of poppy seeds from her West Ham allotment.
Refreshments, materials & equipment provided. Sorry, no unaccompanied children under 14.
If you're planning to come to our urban seed day (see above) you might like to make an afternoon of it and also visit the wonderful St. Mary's Allotments also in Newham, they're off Queens Road and the entrance is opposite Princes Terrace (E13 9AJ).
I believe the open day runs from 12.30 - 3.30 pm (On Saturday August the 16th) and there will be a marquee with produce etc. Judging by our visit a few weeks ago on the Harvest Walk it would be well worth the trip.
A different project took me last week to Somerset, a place overflowing with good gardens. As I'm never driving home it's never possible for me to visit the many outstanding nurseries frustatingly, though last time I visited East Lambrook Manor, one time home of Margery Fish, a gardening heroine of mine not least because she always gardened in a nice frock.
Anyway, this time I spent one of my evenings at a lecture by Mr Paul Atterley of Antiques Roadshow fame, on Arts & Crafts Homes and Gardens. All very interesting but the venue was even more impressive - Hestercombe Gardens, a turn of the century extravaganza, with a Victorian terrace leading to a vast sunken garden (pictured here).
I turned a rare moment of isolation in the garden to good use, when I realised that some of the critical dimensions of the lower terrace compared with many in our proposals for the Abbey Garden site. For example, just seen on the right, the raised terraces are about 2 metres high around this main terrace, the height of a landform / ampitheatre we have proposed. It felt right - neither intimidatingly high nor too halfhearted. The design is also similar in some ways to the triangulated Harvest Garden we have suggested getting underway in 2009.
Photo: Nina Pope
We drunk the elderflower champagne at the end of the Harvest walk on Saturday ... and it slipped down very nicely! Some people asked for the recipe so here's the link again.
Photo: Tim Olden
Thanks to everyone who came along on the walk on Saturday, Karen & I really enjoyed it!
Thanks also to Len, Janice, Gordon & Louise for opening up the world of Newham
allotments for us, and to the Friends of Abbey Gardens for the food in the evening.
For those there (& those who missed it!) you might like to see my pictures on Flickr
If you got a packet of seeds from us on the walk these are the plants they were gathered from ... Aquilegia ... seen here growing on the allotment started by my Father in law Derek Olden. I grew these from seed last year and they flowered beautifully in April/May. I've gathered enough seeds for about 30 packets - not bad! The only trouble is I can't remember exactly which type they were, so for now they're just Aquilegia (mixed). If you grow some from seed this year the mature plants can be added to next years 'Harvest Garden' we hope to create.
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